Sports Takes and Predictions

NBA Surprises – Rookies

For a while now the NBA draft has been a lot more about potential than production. Every team in the lottery has a different agenda so you never know what may happen once the rookies start to play. The expectations for this year’s group was further blurred when Blake Griffin suffered his major injury then came back temporarily only to be shut down for the season. In total he played seven games.

Here are my biggest NBA rookie surprises based on my expectations of how they would perform in their first season:

Tyreke Evans, Sacramento Kings

Granted Evans was drafted fourth by the Kings so he should be having a productive season. However, I don’t think anybody could have predicted he’d be this productive. He’s currently averaging 20.2 points, 5.7 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game. Only three NBA players have averaged 20 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds per game in their rookie seasons. Their names? Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson and LeBron James.

Brandon Jennings, Milwaukee Bucks

When Jennings popped up late at the Draft after being taken by the Bucks I had no idea what to expect. He raised some eyebrows early in the season with a huge 55-point effort. He’s been a little up and down during the season but you can’t argue with the cumulative results – he’s averaging 15.8 points and 5.9 assists per game while shooting almost 39% from three point range and currently has his team in the fifth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Darren Collison, New Orleans Hornets

When the Hornets selected Collison 21st in the Draft it appeared to be a nice back up pick for Chris Paul. That’s the role Collison played until Paul went out with an injury. In his first start Collison picked right up where Paul left off, dishing out 18 assists. He continued to be a steady presence with Paul out. In separate games he has had a triple double, 20 assists, and 32 points.

Terrence Williams, New Jersey Nets

This is the only real surprise I found that represents somebody that has underperformed my expectations. Based on his play at Louisville and his physical attributes I thought he would be a solid starter fairly quickly. It appears he was disgruntled during the early part of the season and had trouble finding his place on the Nets. On the season he is only averaging 7.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game while shooting below 40%. The good news is he has worked his way into the starting lineup and appears to have re-discovered his game.